Fiscal Policy Institute Testimony








 

 

 

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Frank Mauro

Fiscal Policy Institute

1 Lear Jet Lane

Latham, NY 12110

518-786-3156

mauro@fiscalpolicy.org

 

NEW YORK CITY

James Parrott

Fiscal Policy Institute

11 Park Place

New York, NY 10007

212-721-5624

parrott@fiscalpolicy.org

 

 

   
 

Testimony

   
  This page is for testimony delivered by FPI staff at various hearings. Also see press releases, op eds, columns and letters by FPI authors, and FPI in the news.
 

 

     
 

October 26, 2009.  Testimony on Governor Paterson's Proposed 2009-2010 Deficit Reduction Plan. Presented by James Parrott, Deputy Director and Chief Economist of FPI, to the Senate Finance Committee.

 

October 21, 2009. Testimony on Governor Paterson's Proposed 2009-2010 Deficit Reduction Plan. Presented by Frank Mauro, Executive Director of FPI, and Ron Deutsch, Executive Director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. Mauro and Deutsch discussed why $1.8 billion of the $3 billion in deficit reduction actions proposed by Governor Paterson for the current state fiscal year would harm the still-fragile state economy. The Governor’s other $1.2 billion in gap-closing recommendations together with additional actions that will not hurt the state economy should be used to ensure that the state ends the current fiscal year in balance. Changes in law that would affect the state’s finances and its economy on an ongoing basis should be reviewed in a thorough and well-informed manner as part of the Legislature’s consideration of the Governor’s 2010-11 Executive Budget - with all options on the table, including the budget-balancing alternatives recommended by Mauro and Deutsch in this testimony.

 

June 24, 2009.  Retail Wages in New York City: Testimony before the Bronx Community Board 7. Presented by research associate Michele Mattingly at the board's public hearing on the Kingsbridge Armory Project. As New York City leaves behind an economic era characterized by a financial sector distorted by reckless speculation, it is imperative that we rebuild the city economy on the basis of good, family-supporting jobs that create and sustain the middle-class. Related: Low Wages, No Bargain, FPI's study of the retail sector in New York, December 2008.

 

May 21, 2009.  Testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Budget and Tax Reform. Presented by chief economist James Parrott at the committee's  public hearing on New York State’s business tax reform. New York could have a more rational and fairer business tax system by adopting a rule to fix problems with the way multi-state corporate income is apportioned, by revamping its overly generous Investment Tax Credit, and by adjusting its taxation of unincorporated businesses.

 

May 7, 2009.  Outsourcing Public Services to the Private Sector: Testimony before the New York City Council Committee on Civil Service and Labor and Committee on Contracts. "Contracting in" offers budget savings and efficiency while promoting better quality jobs for New Yorkers. To pursue these goals, the Council should consider reforms to the contracting process and decision-making.

 

April 30, 2008.  Testimony on the The Economic Situation of New York City's Low- and Moderate-Income Households. Presented by chief economist James Parrott to the Rent Guidelines Board. Three points: this is the worst recession since the Great Depression with sharply higher unemployment; inflation-adjusted wages and incomes are falling for most New York families; and housing costs are placing an enormous burden on New York City working families.

 

March 12, 2009.  Exploring progressive changes to New York State’s personal income tax system: testimony presented by FPI executive director Frank Mauro to the New York State Senate Select Committee on Budget and Tax Reform.

 

March 4, 2009.  Testimony before the NYS Assembly Standing Committee on Local Governments Public Hearing on Industrial Development Agencies, submitted by FPI executive director Frank Mauro. There's room for improvement in six areas:

  • The usefulness of IDA hearings,

  • Reporting on costs and benefits of IDA-supported projects,

  • Ensuring that IDA benefits don't go to firms that break environmental, safety or other state laws,

  • Coordination with all local governments affected by IDA decisions,

  • Transmission and recording of PILOT payments to the local governments on whose behalf they are collected,

  • Penalties for IDAs that violate anti-piracy provisions.

February 4, 2009.  Testimony on the 2008-2009 Executive Budget - Workforce Issues. Presented by FPI executive director Frank Mauro to the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees. The Executive Budget contains many proposals that will directly and indirectly cut jobs, exacerbating the recession in the state economy. There are other ways to close budget gaps - notably, an increase in high-end income taxes - that would do much less harm to the economy.

November 13, 2008.  Testimony of Frank Mauro and Ronald Deutsch before the Assembly Ways and Means Committee hearing on the impact of the economic crisis on the state budget. To avoid deepening the already threatening recession, the state must not rely solely on drastic cuts in state spending to close current and expected budget gaps. A balanced approach includes tapping the state's tax stabilization reserve fund (put together for this very purpose), surgical cuts in wasteful spending, and a high-end income tax surcharge like that used successfully in 2003 to close post-9/11 gaps.

November 6, 2008.  Testimony of James A. Parrott before the New York State Commission on State Asset Maximization. To fulfill the commission's charge to "maximize the value and use of state assets," the state should carefully consider in-house design and prevailing wage standards when setting up new projects. Also, economic development subsidies should include strict accountability standards; the state should not act as project investor without receiving in return an ownership stake for the taxpayers.

September 15, 2008.  Testimony of James A. Parrott before the New York State Commission on MTA Financing. Albany will have to make some tough choices to align the MTA's recurring spending needs with recurring revenues. It will not be easy to do this during a downturn, but it is imperative that the State and the City put in place a phased-in approach that stabilizes MTA finances for the long term.

June 2, 2008.  Testimony on Proposed Legislation Addressing Real Property Taxation Issues. Presented by FPI Executive Director Frank Mauro to the Senate Standing Committee on Local Government and Assembly Standing Committee on Real Property Taxation. The Middle Class STAR rebate program is better targeted than the original STAR program in that in takes income into consideration. However, Middle Class STAR is still not efficient and equitable property tax relief, since it does not take the size of a homeowner’s property tax bill into consideration and it is still based on county and school district average of important variables. A circuit breaker like S.1053-a/A.1575-a would address both of these shortcomings. The bill would be improved by a broader definition of income.

May 2, 2008.  Testimony on the The Economic Situation of New York City's Low- and Moderate-Income Households. Presented by chief economist James Parrott to the Rent Guidelines Board. A picture of a shallow recovery, high housing cost burdens and a shrinking middle class - plus a local economy in recession.

February 14, 2008.  Testimony on the Cost of Affordable Housing Construction in New York City. Presented by FPI chief economist James Parrott to the Assembly Committee on Housing. Significant fiscal costs arise from the rampant practice in affordable housing construction of illegally misclassifying workers as independent contractors or off the books. Also, paying prevailing wage can actually decrease costs, by attracting more productive workers.

February 11, 2008.  Testimony on the 2008-2009 Executive Budget - Economic Development and Taxes. Submitted by FPI executive director Frank Mauro to the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees. Given the many signs that we are in a recession, state leaders must be especially careful about the way they close the state budget gap. Some gap-closing strategies could actually exacerbate the downturn.

February 5, 2008.  Testimony on the 2008-2009 Executive Budget - Human Services. Submitted by FPI senior economist Trudi Renwick to the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees. Renwick explains several important policy opportunities for New York: increase the basic welfare grant; liberalize the earned income disregard; finance the Earned Income Tax Credit from the General Fund; and take child care funding out of the Flexible Fund for Family Services (FFFS), to ensure that adequate resources go for this essential work support. Renwick includes a series of charts and tables describing TANF spending in New York.

January 24, 2008.  Statement of Trudi Renwick, Senior Economist Before the Assembly Standing Committee on Higher Education regarding the advantages of a career pathways job training program as part of a comprehensive strengthening of New York's postsecondary education system.

December 18, 2007.  Testimony on economic development in New York State. Submitted by FPI's chief economist James Parrott to the New York State Division of the Budget. New York's trillion dollar economy has the potential to be a dynamic economy that rewards all New Yorkers, but challenges abound, including volatility on Wall Street. And there is little to show for the billions of dollars spent on economic development in 2007 by state and local governments. New York needs a new approach that is strategic, diverse, coordinated and accountable.

December 13, 2007.  Testimony of Frank Mauro before the NYS Division of the Budget Public Hearing on Property Taxes. Description of the special problems faced by New York localities with relatively weak tax bases compared to their needs. To a large extent, state fiscal policies have caused great pressure on property taxes in needy cities, counties and school districts, including decisions: to reduce revenue sharing; to decrease the share of local school budgets covered by state aid, to divide the non-federal share of Medicaid costs without considering ability to pay, and to allocate STAR benefits in a way that exacerbates fiscal disparities.

December 5, 2007. Testimony of Frank Mauro before the NYS Assembly Standing Committee on Real Property Taxation. Using data from the American Community Survey, FPI estimates the cost, number of beneficiaries and average benefits of the circuit breaker credit, as proposed (Galef/Little A.1575/S.1053) and with several modifications.

September 28, 2007.  Testimony on the adequacy of the public assistance grant in New York State. Presented by FPI Senior Economist Trudi Renwick to the Assembly Standing Committee on Social Services.

September 25, 2007.  Testimony on New York State’s Brownfields Cleanup and Opportunity Area Programs. Submitted by FPI Executive Director Frank Mauro to the Senate and Assembly Committees on Environmental Conservation.

September 20, 2007.  Testimony on paid family leave. Presented by FPI Senior Economist Trudi Renwick to the Senate Democratic Conference in Albany.

September 20, 2007.  Testimony on paid family leave. Presented by FPI Director of Communications Jo Brill to Senator Maziarz in Niagara Falls.

March 1, 2007.  Testimony on the 2007-08 Executive Budget. Presented by FPI Senior Economist Trudi Renwick to the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees.

February 28, 2007.  Testimony on the 2007-08 Executive Budget. Presented by FPI Executive Director Frank Mauro to the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees.

August 3, 2006.  Testimony presented by James A. Parrott, FPI's Deputy Director and Chief Economist, to the New York City Industrial Development Agency on its proposal to provide special additional tax breaks to all commercial construction projects in the Hudson Yards area of Manhattan. (PDF)

March 9, 2006.  Rebuilding Ground Zero: Status of the World Trade Center Site Plan. Testimony presented by David Dyssegaard Kallick, FPI Senior Fellow and Coordinator of the Labor Community Advocacy Network to Rebuild New York (LCAN) to the New York City Council's Committee on Lower Manhattan Redevelopment. (PDF)

February 15, 2006.  Testimony presented to the NYS Legislature's Joint Budget Hearing on Economic Development and Taxes by FPI Executive Director Frank Mauro. (HTML)

February 1, 2006.  Testimony presented before the Assembly Standing Committees on Energy, Social Services and Aging joint hearing on "The Implementation and Effectiveness of New York's Low Income  Home Energy Assistance Program." (PDF)

September 22, 2005.  The Effect of Welfare Reform in NYS.  Testimony by Trudi Renwick, FPI Senior Economist, before the NYS Assembly Committee on Social Services.

June 16, 2005.  Testimony by FPI Deputy Director and Chief Economist James Parrott on Expenditure of Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs) in New York City at March 22, 2005 City Council hearing.  Copy of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's June 9, 2005, Veto Message of City Council legislation requiring greater accountability in the expenditure of PILOT revenues. (PDF)

May 2, 2005.  The Tentative Recovery is Still a Long Way from Restoring Jobs, Wages and Incomes to Pre-Recession Levels for New York City's Low- and Moderate-Income Households. Testimony by James Parrott, FPI Chief Economist, before the New York City Rent Guidelines Board. 

March 23, 2005.  Testimony on "Fiscal Stability" presented by FPI's Deputy Director and Chief Economist James Parrott to the New York City Charter Revision Commission. This testimony deals with the Charter Commission's interest in determining if any of the expiring provisions of the New York State Financial Emergency Act for the City of New York should be incorporated into the New York City Charter. (PDF)

February 16, 2005.  Testimony presented at the New York State Legislature's Joint Budget Hearing on Economic Development and Taxes.  (HTML)

February 15, 2005.  Testimony presented at New York City Council Immigration Committee Hearing, Immigrants and the New York City Labor Force. (PDF)

February 7, 2005.  Testimony presented at the New York State Legislature's Joint Budget Hearing on Human Services. Updated March 11, 2005. (PDF)

January 18, 2005.  Testimony presented to the NYS Assembly Standing Committee on Local Governments, Public Hearing on Industrial Development Agencies. (HTML)

January 18, 2005.  Testimony submitted to the Empire State Development Corporation on the Proposed Financing for the New York Sports and Convention Center. (MSWORD). 

December 15, 2004.  Testimony before the NYC Council Committee on Finance regarding the Proposed Financing for the Hudson Yards Project East of 11th Avenue (MSWORD)

September 29, 2004.  FPI Staff  Testimony before the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board.

June 3, 2004.  Testimony before the NYC Council Economic Development Committee, "How Will the Proposed West Side Stadium Complex Impact Our City?" (MSWORD)

February 11, 2004. The Impact of the 2004-2005 Executive Budget on Needy New Yorkers: FPI's testimony at the Legislature's Joint Budget Hearing on Human Services. Includes updated tables on TANF block grant spending. (PDF)

May 22, 2003.  New York City's Unemployment Crisis and the Need for an Emergency Job Creation Program. (PDF) Testimony presented by FPI Deputy Director and Chief Economist James Parrott to the Assembly Committee on Cities. Click here for Newsday story, "Expert: Jobs Are the Problem." (PDF)

March 3, 2003.   FPI's Testimony at the Legislature's Joint Budget Hearing on Human Services (PDF). Includes updated tables on TANF block grant spending, minimum wage workers, disposable income of New York SSI recipients, and each county's public assistance shelter allowance as a percent of its Fair Market Rent.  (PDF)

February 26, 2003.  FPI's Testimony at the Legislature's Joint Budget Hearing on Taxes and Economic Development (PDF).

January 17, 2003.  Management and Accountability Issues Pertaining to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's New York City Transit Operations. Testimony by Matthew T. Mitchell before the Transportation Committee of the Council of the City of New York. 

June 17, 2002.  Escalating Prescription Drug Costs - The Reality and Options for Reform.  FPI's testimony to the New York State AFL-CIO Task Force on Prescription Drugs.

February 26, 2002.  FPI's testimony before the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees, Joint Public Hearings on Economic Development/Taxation.

February 25, 2002.  An Exploration of the City's Role in Lower Manhattan Redevelopment. Testimony by James A. Parrott, before the City Council of the City of New York Economic Development Committee and the Select Committee on Lower Manhattan Redevelopment.

February 19, 2002.  Testimony of Trudi Renwick in  Proceeding on Motion of the Commission To Consider Cost Recovery by Verizon and to  Investigate the Future Regulatory Framework, Case 00-C-1945. Focuses on a proposal to expand programs used to determine telephone lifeline eligibility to include EITC, school lunch and Child Health Plus.

February 4, 2002.  FPI's testimony before the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees, Joint Public Hearing on the Human Services portion of the 2002-2003 Executive Budget.  Focuses primarily on the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program. 

September 2001.  Testimony of FPI Senior Economist Moshe Adler to the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security.

September 2001.  Testimony of Frank Mauro to the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security.

January 8, 2001.  New York Stock Exchange Subsidy Deal: Testimony at the Urban Development Corporation's public hearing on its proposal to take several buildings by eminent domain to assemble a site for the construction of a new trading facility for the New York Stock Exchange. Testimony by James Parrott and testimony by Alice Meaker of Good Jobs New York.

  

 
     
     

 

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